Look, the NFL playoffs are a different beast. People spend all week looking at brackets and spreadsheets, but when Saturday afternoon rolls around, none of that math matters. If you’re looking for the nfl football schedule for the week, you're probably trying to figure out if you have enough time to run to the store before kickoff or which streaming app you actually need to pay for this time.
The Divisional Round is arguably the best weekend in sports. Better than the Super Bowl? Honestly, yeah. You get four high-stakes games squeezed into 48 hours. No fluff. No two-week layoff. Just pure, unadulterated chaos. This year, we’re looking at a mix of dominant top seeds and scrappy underdogs that somehow survived a wild Wild Card weekend where four games were decided by less than a touchdown.
Saturday's Lineup: Mile High Air and Emerald City Rain
The action starts on Saturday, January 17. If you’re a fan of old-school AFC rivalries, the first game is basically a gift.
Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET. You can catch this one on CBS or stream it on Paramount+.
The Broncos are coming off a bye, well-rested and sitting at the #1 seed. But don't sleep on Buffalo. Josh Allen and company just handled the Jaguars and they're playing with house money. Playing in Denver in mid-January is basically a survival test. The thin air and the cold are going to be massive factors here. It's the "Sean Payton vs. the Bills' secondary" chess match we’ve been waiting for all season.
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
This is the nightcap at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
Talk about a rubber match. These two already played twice this season and split the series. Seattle took the most recent one in Week 18 to grab the #1 seed and that crucial home-field advantage. The 49ers are technically the #6 seed, but nobody treats them like one. They’re coming off a short week after beating the Eagles, and traveling to Lumen Field is a nightmare for any visiting quarterback. Expect it to be loud. Really loud.
Sunday's Slate: Tradition vs. The New Guard
Sunday, January 18, is when things get really interesting for the "legacy" teams.
Houston Texans at New England Patriots
3:00 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN.
New England is back. It took a few years, but the Patriots secured the #2 seed and look like a disciplined machine again. They’re hosting a Texans team that absolutely dismantled the Steelers 30-6 on Monday night. Houston is the quintessential "team no one wants to play" right now. They’re young, fast, and their defense is playing out of its mind. Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte recently told reporters the Texans' defense "isn't too complicated," which is the kind of quote that usually ends up on a bulletin board in a locker room.
Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears
6:30 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock.
This is the game I’m most excited about. The Bears haven't hosted a divisional-round game at Soldier Field in 15 years. The atmosphere is going to be electric. The Rams, led by Matthew Stafford, are the #5 seed but are currently favored by some oddsmakers. Why? Because Stafford is playing some of the best football of his career. But the Bears just pulled off a historic fourth-quarter comeback against the Packers to get here. If the wind is whipping off Lake Michigan, those LA deep balls might be a lot harder to haul in.
How to Actually Watch These Games
Streaming has made the nfl football schedule for the week a bit of a headache. You can’t just turn on one channel and call it a day anymore.
If you're trying to cut the cord, here’s the breakdown:
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- Paramount+ is your home for the CBS game (Bills/Broncos).
- Peacock is mandatory for the Sunday night game (Rams/Bears).
- Sling TV or Fubo are your best bets if you want the local FOX and ABC/ESPN feeds without a cable box.
- NFL+ works for mobile, but honestly, watching a playoff game on a six-inch screen feels like a crime against humanity.
Why the Seeds Don't Matter as Much as You Think
A lot of people look at a #6 seed like the 49ers or Bills and think they’re long shots. That’s a mistake. In 2026, the gap between the top and the bottom of the playoff bracket is thinner than ever. We saw the Texans—a #5 seed—completely dominate. We saw the Rams—another #5 seed—edge out the Panthers in a thriller.
The "Bye Week Rust" is a real thing too. The Broncos and Seahawks haven't played a competitive snap in two weeks. Sometimes that rest is great for healing injuries, but it can also kill your momentum. Meanwhile, teams like the Bills and 49ers are already in "playoff mode." They've been playing do-or-die football for weeks.
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Practical Next Steps for the Weekend
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, don't just check the scores. Here is how you should prep:
- Check the weather in Denver and Chicago. Cold is one thing, but wind speed changes everything for betting the "over" or "under" on points.
- Download the apps early. Don't wait until 4:29 p.m. on Saturday to realize you forgot your Paramount+ password or that the app needs a 500MB update.
- Monitor the injury reports for the #1 seeds. Since Denver and Seattle had the week off, their final practice reports on Friday will tell you exactly who is actually 100% and who is just "active."
- Track the line movement. If you see the Rams' spread moving significantly towards Chicago, it usually means the "sharp" money is betting on the home-field advantage and the weather.
The road to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara is getting narrow. By Monday morning, four of these teams will be booking flights for the Conference Championships, and the rest will be heading to the golf course. Enjoy the games—this is as good as it gets.